wayne556517
Lieutenant General
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
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Hurricane! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter wayne556517
- Start date
wayne556517
Lieutenant General
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2007
- Messages
- 16,219
Dear All,
Welcome to our 2 very unique WW2 offerings for March 2016, the Hawker Hurricane but with a twist! Many of you will know that the Hurricane was the main stream fighter of the RAF during the early part of WW2, but has always been overshadowed in history by its more graceful stable mate - the Spitfire.
The Hurricane was a 1930's single seat fighter design by Hawker Aircraft and evolved with modifications into a bomber interceptor, fighter bomber, ground support aircraft and a Naval version called the Sea Hurricane.
Initially rejected by the Air Ministry, Sidney Camm's iconic design came back to the Ministry with the new Rolls Royce Merlin engine fitted and a retractable undercarriage. The design was accepted with the name Hurricane being given to the new fighter, King Edward V111 gave the new fighter an informal Christening at Martlesham Heath in 1936.
The Hurricanes simple design although outdated by the late 1930's meant the finished unit was much cheaper than the Spitfire to produce. Initially fitted with fabric covered wings, it was found that by changing the wings to an all metal type, the aircraft could dive at an additional 80 MPH, a somewhat life saving advantage when in a combat situation. The fabric covering on the body was found to be an advantage in that cannon shells would pass straight through the fuselage without exploding, however if the aircraft were to catch fire the fabric covering was found to be a major disadvantage.
With war looking increasingly likely the RAF was expanded and by the time war started, 18 RAF Sqn's were operational with the Hurricane and another 3 were converting.
The Hurricane first saw combat in October 1939 when 9 Heinkel 115 Floatplanes were intercepted, with 4 being downed in quick succession.
Armed initially with 8 machine guns the Hurricane was a stable platform and was greatly appreciated by its pilots. Various improvements were made to the armament including a 12 machine gun variant before the fitting of cannons became standard.
Several hundred Hurricanes were converted for naval operations, including some (MK1 A) that were launched from the catapult of a merchant ship, these were known as 'Hurricats' with their first victim being a FW200 Condor that had been attacking an Allied convoy. Later versions followed fitted with an arrester hook and Catapult spools and up to 80 other modifications to make them suitable for naval operations.
The Hurricane served through until the end of war with over 16,000 being manufactured during its service career and such an iconic aircraft like this very much deserves to be in our inventory.
As nobody has made a Sea Hurricane in 1/30 scale we thought we would be the first and our variants of the Sea Hurricane MK1 B are as follows:
WOW072 Sea Hurricane flown from HMS Furious during Operation Pedestal and the relief of Malta, limited to 5 pieces worldwide. Comes free with RAF001B pilot figure sat in wicker chair.
WOW073 Sea Hurricane flown by Finnish forces at Immola in 1942 against Soviet forces in the Continuation War, limited to 8 pieces worldwide. Comes free with Luftwaffe pilot and Fox cub.
Both Hurricanes are priced at $550 each plus P&P and can be paid in full if preferred, or can be spread over 3 months if this helps with your budget planning.
All our 1/30 scale wooden Warbirds are hand carved in Mahogany and take up to 60 to manufacture, hence the price, but the quality in these pieces speaks for itself.
Both models are available now and can be ordered direct thru us via this email.
If you no longer wish to receive our e-newsletter then please reply typing 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in capital letters and we will remove you from our mailing list.
Next month will see our figure release on 4th April, for those of you waiting for the new release some of these will be on show at the Maison Militaire stand on 2nd April as well as some new Warbirds. Please feel free to drop by if you are attending and say hello and have a chat.
Best wishes
The Gunn Team
Welcome to our 2 very unique WW2 offerings for March 2016, the Hawker Hurricane but with a twist! Many of you will know that the Hurricane was the main stream fighter of the RAF during the early part of WW2, but has always been overshadowed in history by its more graceful stable mate - the Spitfire.
The Hurricane was a 1930's single seat fighter design by Hawker Aircraft and evolved with modifications into a bomber interceptor, fighter bomber, ground support aircraft and a Naval version called the Sea Hurricane.
Initially rejected by the Air Ministry, Sidney Camm's iconic design came back to the Ministry with the new Rolls Royce Merlin engine fitted and a retractable undercarriage. The design was accepted with the name Hurricane being given to the new fighter, King Edward V111 gave the new fighter an informal Christening at Martlesham Heath in 1936.
The Hurricanes simple design although outdated by the late 1930's meant the finished unit was much cheaper than the Spitfire to produce. Initially fitted with fabric covered wings, it was found that by changing the wings to an all metal type, the aircraft could dive at an additional 80 MPH, a somewhat life saving advantage when in a combat situation. The fabric covering on the body was found to be an advantage in that cannon shells would pass straight through the fuselage without exploding, however if the aircraft were to catch fire the fabric covering was found to be a major disadvantage.
With war looking increasingly likely the RAF was expanded and by the time war started, 18 RAF Sqn's were operational with the Hurricane and another 3 were converting.
The Hurricane first saw combat in October 1939 when 9 Heinkel 115 Floatplanes were intercepted, with 4 being downed in quick succession.
Armed initially with 8 machine guns the Hurricane was a stable platform and was greatly appreciated by its pilots. Various improvements were made to the armament including a 12 machine gun variant before the fitting of cannons became standard.
Several hundred Hurricanes were converted for naval operations, including some (MK1 A) that were launched from the catapult of a merchant ship, these were known as 'Hurricats' with their first victim being a FW200 Condor that had been attacking an Allied convoy. Later versions followed fitted with an arrester hook and Catapult spools and up to 80 other modifications to make them suitable for naval operations.
The Hurricane served through until the end of war with over 16,000 being manufactured during its service career and such an iconic aircraft like this very much deserves to be in our inventory.
As nobody has made a Sea Hurricane in 1/30 scale we thought we would be the first and our variants of the Sea Hurricane MK1 B are as follows:
WOW072 Sea Hurricane flown from HMS Furious during Operation Pedestal and the relief of Malta, limited to 5 pieces worldwide. Comes free with RAF001B pilot figure sat in wicker chair.
WOW073 Sea Hurricane flown by Finnish forces at Immola in 1942 against Soviet forces in the Continuation War, limited to 8 pieces worldwide. Comes free with Luftwaffe pilot and Fox cub.
Both Hurricanes are priced at $550 each plus P&P and can be paid in full if preferred, or can be spread over 3 months if this helps with your budget planning.
All our 1/30 scale wooden Warbirds are hand carved in Mahogany and take up to 60 to manufacture, hence the price, but the quality in these pieces speaks for itself.
Both models are available now and can be ordered direct thru us via this email.
If you no longer wish to receive our e-newsletter then please reply typing 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in capital letters and we will remove you from our mailing list.
Next month will see our figure release on 4th April, for those of you waiting for the new release some of these will be on show at the Maison Militaire stand on 2nd April as well as some new Warbirds. Please feel free to drop by if you are attending and say hello and have a chat.
Best wishes
The Gunn Team